The next morning, Demitri let me sleep in. It was past dawn, but he didn't seem to mind that I was late. When I did open my eyes, he was on the sofa, watching me with tenderness in his eyes. At least, I think it was tenderness. I've seen it so many times, I was almost sure it was. But this is Demitri, the king of hard looks and distance. It would be difficult to decipher any emotion I would see, except distance, but I don't expect to see anything but distance from him. In any case, seeing a new emotion in him startled me.
"Good morning," He said "How did you sleep? Any more voices?"
"I slept fine. No voices."
"That's good. Maybe it was just a dream."
"Yeah. Maybe."
"I was thinking about what you suggested yesterday."
"Really?!" I responded, perking up, hoping that we would move in. I really liked this place. It's ancient, in need of care and residents and it's very dear to Demitri. But, more than that, I've always been fascinated with history, and this castle is about as close to living history as I've ever been.
"And I have decided to move back in."
"Yes!" I shouted, lifting my head to the ceiling above. When I opened my mouth to celebrate, a shoot of white flew from my mouth an instant after I felt the familiar click. I shut my mouth, mentally clicking the latch closed again. Needless to say, it was quiet after.
Demitri was the first to recover. He phased and flew to the ceiling, where the ray of white had stuck to. He put his paw to the white section, tasted it, sniffed it, and then flew back down to me. He dephased and the first word out of his human mouth was "Ice! Sam, you have the power of Ice!" He started laughing joyfully, scooping me up and turning us in a circle. After a few rotations, he set me down and gathered me in his arms for a hug. That's when it sank in. I gripped him and returned the hug, not understanding why this was such a big deal when every Drakonian has an extra power. Derek had Vision, Hutser had Manipulation, but Demitri has no power.
We remained in our embrace for a long moment. The aura around us changed. It stopped being just master and apprentice when we met Jazz and Sarasin. But, it seemed to change again. This new feeling, new aura, seemed private. Something that only the two of us could ever know.
Intimacy. That was it.
As soon as I realized this, I pulled away. When Ryan rejected me, I made a solemn vow to never fall in love with, or be intimate with, another person...ever. This new aura gave the impression of intimacy, which means that I was breaking my vow and putting myself up for rejection again.
I pushed him away, to arm's length, and averted my eyes. He seemed to understand. I could feel his shoulders lower and his head also drop. He took my hand and placed it against his heart.
"Demitri." I said, letting my voice carry the message I didn't have the heart to say. Not to this nice man whose done so much for me.
"I know. I'm your mentor, and you're my apprentice. It's just not done."
"You're right."
Silence. An awkward moment with nothing to break the still silence.
"Well, we should head back to Hutser and help him move."
"So soon?" I protested, snapping my head up. I didn't want to leave this place. Not in a million years.
"We'll be back. We're moving in, remember?"
I exhaled and nodded. We went outside through the massive front doors of solid ebony wood. Once outside, we phased and flew to the west.
Want to race, Demitri? I asked, seeing the vast expanse of sky.
